The application of hydrophilic and oleophilic dyes to polymeric layers and the absorption of such dyes into polymeric layers including photopolymerized layers are known. When dye is absorbed into photopolymerized layers, generally the amount of dye absorbed is in the proportion and to the extent to which the polymeric layer has been unaffected by the exposing radiation. Thus, for example, in photopolymerized layers exposed through an image the dye would be absorbed into the non-imagewise exposed areas but no dye would be present in the exposed image areas.
Photopolymerizable compositions are either hydrophilic or oleophilic depending on the ethylenically unsaturated monomeric compound and polymeric binder present. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,147,549, there is disclosed an element useful for printing that after exposure and leaching contains both types of image areas. For example, the exposed image areas can be either hydrophilic or oleophilic and the unexposed image areas oleophilic or hydrophilic, respectively. It was found that positive or negative-working printing plates can be prepared by imagewise exposing a photopolymerizable element comprising an oleophilic or hydrophilic organic binder and a leachable hydrophilic or oleophilic ethylenically unsaturated compound, respectively, leaching out the unpolymerized ethylenically unsaturated compound and then treating the leached surface with an oleophilic ink. The ink covers solely the oleophilic image surface and is not absorbed into the oleophilic image. The ink plates are useful for printing but cannot be used in positive and negative-working overlay or projection applications directly, particularly such applications where in a single element hydrophilic and oleophilic dyes are absorbed in either the exposed or unexposed image areas.